MANOS: The Hands of Fate, The Secret World, Final Fantasy VII, Star Trek Online, Lineage, and Other Ramblings3 comments

I am not interested in playing ANYTHING!

That’s an exaggeration, of course, but it’s not that far off. Over the past week, I’ve had some rough days at work. So, I’ve come home feeling like relaxing, I sit down at my PC, fire it up, and then I do…nothing. I check the Book of Face or Twitter or some random article that catches my attention. The last thing I’ve wanted to do is game. This is not like me, but then, we all go through these downtimes.

To be honest, I have felt a bit burned out. Take The Secret World’s augment grind as a reason for burning out, for example. Those scenarios are just brimming with decent loot and ability points, but they do get old quick. I mean, as Joel Bylos said in the latest November 2013 Game Director’s letter, Scenarios are really tuned to be an epic end game grind. I haven’t done all the full calculations yet, but my preliminary calculations are showing me that, oh dear lord, a grind is an understatement. And there is nothing wrong with that. A grind really works for MMOs. Games that theoretically never end should really never have an ending. So if you do every quest, every dungeon, and explore every corner, there should still be something there to strive for. Plus, I think people secretly really like the grind.

But not me. I’ll generally grind if there is a specific item to grind for, and then once that item is attained, I’ve always found my desire to play satiated. For example, last year I was all about playing the Winter content in Star Trek Online. I even got the big fantastic Breen ship that you acquired after running the same daily mission 25 times! And you know what I did with my new ship? Absolutely nothing. It’s still sitting there unopened in my bank. So this year, Star Trek Online brought back the Winter zone, with all kinds of fun new extra things, and my want to play it is nonexistant. Not to say it wasn’t fun last year. It was a good time. But I know I’ll put in all that effort, get the ship… and then it, too, will languish in my bank. I might log back in to check it out, check out the new Dyson Sphere, the dinosaurs with fricking laser beams, the new Worf mission, etc… just as soon as the mood strikes. … Anyday now… Whenever you’re ready mood…

So what else is there? I’ve been checking out a bit of my other purchases, like Final Fantasy VII, picked up in Steam’s latest Autumn Sale (Oh yea, I haven’t been in the mood to play anything, but yet, that hasn’t stopped me from buying more games… I really do have a problem, don’t I…). I never played it the first time around, and it’s been fun so far. Also, Humble’s Weekly Sale had a title that I couldn’t resist dropping a few bucks for: Manos: The Hands of Fate.

Yes, based on THE Manos: The Hands of Fate. If you don’t know it, the good people have given the IMDB’s rating of the movie a more than generous 1.8 out of 10. It’s not just bad, it is phenomenally bad. The movie is so bad, it TRANSCENDS it’s badness. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fans will look back on it fondly, though. The MST3K riffing of Manos: The Hands of Fate on IMDB has an 8.8 out of 10 rating. Freakzone, the developer, decided to use the awesome source material and turn it into a pretty awesome old-school platformer. For the low price of “whatever the heck you want to give them”, it’s a decent platformer. So far, I’ve found it challenging, easy to play with a controller, and bug-free. A total win. Available for the next 4 days and change, check it out.

Also, although I’m not as prolific a reader as say, Mogsy, I have also delved back into B.J. Keeton‘s NIMBUS. Also the author of Birthright, 1st of his trilogy mixing sci-fi and fantasy elements, B.J. just released yesterday the 2nd installment, Lineage! Do me a solid and check it out. And oh, seeing as how B.J. is an avid MMO player, you might see a heavy helping of MMO influence in there, too.

3 responses to “MANOS: The Hands of Fate, The Secret World, Final Fantasy VII, Star Trek Online, Lineage, and Other Ramblings”

I think a lot of people are feeling the same thing at the moment. It’s a weird transitory where in between big titles not to mention the holidays are here and a lot of people are focusing on other things.

Personally I get insanely lethargic by the end of the year…a whole year of working, writing and pretty much doing the same old thing and December is the valve releasing.
There are a lot of nice indie experiences around atm though

True, I believe I go in cycles. Around September, I really want to play MMOs, then around December, it stalls, picks up again in January, continues until March, slows down again, pick up again late April and continues until June. July & August, I want nothing to do with them, as the long summer nights drive me out of my house. Your mileage may vary, of course, but this seems to be my pattern.

As far as other big titles coming out… I may be a bad gamer, but I really can’t seem to summon any interest at all for any of the new games. Wildstar? Meh. TESO? Meh. Nothing I’ve seen really has been all that enticing. Indie, though, I’m always a fan of. I do loves me some Indie.

Ah yes. This mood. I know it well. I find I have to flit between hobbies to keep myself from going insane. I’m usually big into reading and book blogging but since Spring just haven’t had anywhere near enough interest. Sometimes I get it with games. Though since I last left WoW I’ve had it much less with games so that’s something. Just best to go with what takes your fancy, even if it’s not gaming.

PS. “I haven’t been in the mood to play anything, but yet, that hasn’t stopped me from buying more games…” Yeah… I do this with books. So bad..